#physical and occupational therapy

[spotzuydblog]

Blog 26. Mindfulness 

As OT's we also have to care for the mental wellbeing of our clients. There are many interventions and methods that focus on mental health. One of those interventions is Mindfulness. 

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present. This state is described as observing one’s thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad.    In simpler words it is being in the present, being conscious and acknowledging your feelings.  In my internship I also used a lot of different mindfulness exercises on my clients.  I used meditation exercises, breathing exercises, practicing setting boundaries, acknowledge negative thoughts and convert them to good ones.   Other mindfulness practices/hobbies are Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, gardening, being in nature, exercising (walking, running, cycling, swimming, dancing etc.), making art, reading, writing, cooking/baking, decorating.    

Mindfulness can help for the following symptoms: 

Reduction of anxiety 

Better night's sleep 

Increased ability to relax 

Reduction of stress symptoms 

The ability to deal more effectively with long- and short-term stress 

More energy and enthusiasm for life 

Improving self-esteem 

Reduction of depression 

Learn to deal with pain 

Reduction of physical and psychological symptoms 

This year I experienced some mental health problems myself and I discovered that Mindfulness also could help me as a student and professional. I personally really like dancing, making art, decorating and breathing exercises. Recently I have also been interested in Yoga. Mindfulness has helped me to relax more and feel happier. 

I have a few mindfulness exercises for you to do yourself. 

Breathing exercise  Breath slowly in until the air fills your lower stomach and breath slowly out.  Repeat this about 5 times and see what it does with your body and how you feel.   

Body scan  How does your body feel in the here and now.  Focus from head to toe on your body parts and you're breathing.  When you have a complete picture of the state your body is in, you can map out the problems for yourself. Ask yourself where these could be coming from and how you could fix them. Do this for about 10 minutes.   

Guided Meditations on Youtube  You can find a lot of mindfulness meditations and exercises on YouTube and other sites.  For example, this one: A Ten Minute Guided Meditation to Clear Your Mind - YouTube   

I hope you found my article interesting, and I hope you will try mindfulness exercises yourself to see what it does for you as a person and professional. 

Until the next blog, 

Sarah 

[spectrumpediatrictherapy]

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[moss-opossum]

The occupational therapy intake went horribly. The OT kept remarking “how much I have going on” (how much is wrong with me), and said she didn’t know what to do with me. When I told her I am very isolated, and want to go out for more than groceries and doctor visits, and to be able to work, she said I should “just work from home”, accompanied with some implied prejudice against intellectually disabled people. At that point I felt like I was going to cry.

She thinks I’m already at my functional limit and “doesn’t want to add more” to help me improve?? Even though that’s her job?? She indicated that she would ask her colleagues what they think we can work on and would discuss at the next appointment, but after that kind of unprofessional treatment, I don’t want to go back; I’m canceling all my scheduled appointments with the practice. I’ll look for another OT I guess.

[dawnskylive]

Just finished my pt appointment, and I’m getting more and more fed up with it. This place DOES specialize in chronic pain, but it is seemingly more and more helpful for people who’s pain stems from injuries, or age, or surgery and such, not someone with just chronic pain.

My biggest peeve right now is that I tried telling my therapist about thsi and her only response was that I just needed to keep going so that I could retrain my brain when it comes to feeling pain.

Hearing that as someone’s who’s expressed that metacognition is normal for me, and I rationalize and logic my way through a lot of things, was really frustrating. I already know that my pain is not coming from a constant source, and being told that I just “need to fix how my brain thinks about it” is both frustrating and a bit insulting.

On a similar note, I mentioned how my muscle spasms and tremors were getting worse, her response? That it was likely my hydration, sleep or fatigue causing it. When I said that this had been present and constant even when those changed, she said she had no idea (although I will say she did say she would check with someone) (that someone being the old doctor that I don’t like all too much)

Not to mention how hostile the facility is to sensory sensitive people. There’s exactly one quiet corner in the entire outpatient area, which is often used for group therapy so it’s not available quite a bit. Everything is bright and open and still cramped because everyone is in the same place, there’s a single large room that is used for both physical and occupational therapy.

I’m tired of this place and I’m only halfway done with my appointment for the day

[lady-charinette]

Hello! Just a note. Feel free to ignore if you’d like. Rei would most likely have occcupational therapy for his arm rehab. Physical therapy does the legs while the arms and hands are occupational therapists in outpatient rehab or with advanced certification for Hand Therapy (really the whole arm and shoulder).

Signed, local occupational therapy student :)

Oh! Thanks for the clarification, I'm glad I learned the difference between those! :)

I also read up on it a bit and PT is also primarily exercise-based while occupational therapy is a more hands-on (manual) approach. Also: occupational therapy focuses how to adapt to daily life again, for Rei I could imagine to regain enough feeling in his arm to maybe pick up tweezers or learn how to hold and grab certain objects.

Super cool of you to drop the ask, thanks! 😊

[toytulini]

wore my nightvale "pain is just pain entering the body" tshirt to a physical therapy appointment awhile ago and it was a bit of a hit

[flowercrowncrip]

My occupational therapist is amazing. She had several ideas of how to help with the manual handling issues I’m having and is ordering three different things we can try out to find a combination that works

She’s also replacing my hoist sling and getting me a more supportive shower chair

She’s so down to earth and solution focused. I’m so used to having to spend a while convincing people (benefits assessors, care funding panels, doctors) that I need help with something, but it’s totally different with her. I can be like “this is sometimes an issue” and she’s more than happy to order things that might help.

She’s ordering like five different things in total (probably over £1000 worth of stuff). It’s like disabled Christmas

[spotzuydblog]

Blog 25. Burnout 

Every human being experiences stress. It is primarily a physical response. When stressed, the body thinks it is under attack and it will switch to ‘fight’, ‘flight’ or ‘freeze’ mode. During this moment it’ll release a complex mix of hormones and chemicals such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. 

Stress is a human response shown towards external or psychological stressors. On the contrary distress is the emotional state a person encounters when he fails to adapt himself to stressors. 

(Di)stress doesn’t always end up with negative responses, because some people take stress positively, adapt themselves and respond in healthy ways. 

Too much stress in combination with bad workplace health and unsafety can lead to a burnout.  

An Occupational Therapist can have a burnout, but also treat people who experience it. They will look with the client at their day schedule, stress factors and their strengths. Maybe some Mindfulness of meditation will help, or they can receive huge support from their social network. 

The next step is getting back to work after the burnout. Not to start with 36 hours per week, but slowly start with a couple hours a day and increase those step by step. 

But how do you recognize a burnout? Well, every day is a bad day. Caring about your work or home life seems like a waste of energy and you’re exhausted all the time.  

It is a gradual process. It doesn’t happen overnight but can creep up on you. The first signs are subtle but become worse as time goes on. You’ll feel tired, have lowered immunity, frequent headaches or muscle pain and there can be changes in appetite or sleep habits. 

In the end prevention is better than healing, so recognize the symptoms of a burnout and actively reduce your stress. You can prevent a major breakdown. Talk with people about it and don’t ignore your feelings, you’ll eventually burn out. 

Hope you found this interesting, and it might be helpful!  

See you next time! 

[spectrumpediatrictherapy]

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[moss-opossum]

I'm filling in an intake form for occupational therapy and they gave me a diagram to indicate where I experience symptoms.

Image ID: A cropped screenshot of a full-body diagram, front and back; and diagrams for each hand, front and back. On the side is a control panel showing buttons to undo, redo, clear, and indicate symptoms (indicated with red Xs). Above the picture it reads "Mark on the pictures where you have symptoms" /end ID.

My first thought was "can I just say 'all of it'?" Well I tried to fill it in and

Image ID: A cropped screenshot of just the above diagram without the control panel, with a grid of red Xs over the wrists, thumbs, and lower two joints of all fingers on both hands; and covering the entire lower half and arms, shoulders, and neck of the back of the full-body body diagram; and the entirety of the front body diagram save for the head, neck, and part of the chest. /end ID.

I RAN OUT OF XS. THEY WILL NOT LET ME PLACE MORE.

I am losing it, this is just so funny to me.

[dawnskylive]

Currently having a flare up due to pushing myself too hard in pt/ot and im so pissed about it. thankfully its just the heightened pain and not the debilitating fatigue (yet at least)

I'll update after I work tonight, considering i had a moment tm last time i worked. My personal theory was that it was a delayed panic attack, which made me almost pass out lmao (it was the day that i felt so vibey and so great mentally and physically, so im still salty about it)

So yeah, I can already tell I'm going to be so tired and fatigued tomorrow and the day after ;-;

[perplexingluciddreams]

My physio, Celia, came to visit me yesterday and helped me do some exercises on my new exercise ball. It was hard to do but I really enjoyed it 😁 and am going to get a larger ball to do more with. I really enjoyed just bouncing on it, very stimmy!

Another OT came today and is looking into getting me a bath seat that raises me up and down to help me. And a stairlift and bed equipment that turns a bed into an electric adjustable one. I'm really looking forward to being able to go up and down stairs without so much pain and exhaustion.

Mum wrote this again for me, thanks:)

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[clone-medic-patch]

Summary:

Hardcase thought he knew what he was getting into, sacrificing himself for his brothers. What he didn’t expect was to survive, for Fives to pull him away from the explosions and bring him back down to Umbara. He definitely didn’t expect to be refused medical treatment and to be left fighting for his life. Kix says it’s going to be a long road to recovery, and he’s starting to wonder what “recovery” even looks like after something like this...